The NY Giants 2019 Draft Class underwhelmed in Year 2. The team will need more from this group next year in 2021.
The NY Giants drafted 10 players in 2019. Of those 10 players, only five remain on the upcoming 2021 roster.
Losing half of your draft class through two years is an unacceptable number.
Although only five players remain, those five had an immense impact on the Giants’ 2020 season. There were some good things seen, some disappointment, and everything else in between.
The team is going to need more from these guys in a critical year three. Starting from the top and working down the rounds, the five players remaining must remain integral parts of the roster for the next season, and hopefully more to come after that.
Here, we evaluate and grade the 2020 NY Giants rookies and what to expect for next season.
Round 1, #6 Overall: QB Daniel Jones, Duke
Daniel Jones‘ quest to becoming a franchise quarterback took some bumps in his sophomore season.
The No. 6 overall pick in 2019, Jones was seen as a reach by most analysts and league executives alike. However, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman was not going to risk or mess around taking Jones at 17 while another team could have nabbed him.
Jones entered his rookie year with low expectations and an unexpected time of arrival due to the starting presence of Eli Manning. The Manning experiment ended quickly in 2019 after only two games and the keys to the kingdom were handed to Jones.
Jones responded with four touchdowns in an 18-point second-half comeback in Tampa Bay in his first start. Many called it the dream debut for any NFL quarterback. From there, Jones went on to have an impressive rookie season with some turnover concerns as well.
In year one, Jones threw for 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with a 61.9 completion percentage and an 87.7 QB rating in 12 games. In 2020, all these numbers regressed to 2,943 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, with a 62.5% completion percentage and an 80.4 QB rating also in 12 games.
Jones’ statistical regression this year was very noticeable. He had five 300-yard games and four games with four or more touchdowns in one game.
In 2020, he had zero games with either 300 yards or 4+ touchdowns.
There are many reasons why his numbers fell significantly. Jones’ lost his most talented weapon in Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram had the worst season of his career, his receivers struggled to create any separation or make contested catches, Jason Garrett didn’t do nearly enough as Offensive Coordinator, and the offensive line still hasn’t been fully fixed. This recipe of five things going wrong is a primary reason why Jones’ numbers were so poor this year.
Jones is a talented player but he still struggles with his decision-making, analyzing the field and pass rush, and he is still turning the ball over too much. 18 fumbles in year one was cut down to 11 but his interception numbers only dropped from 12 to 10.
If Jones wants to be the long-term franchise quarterback in New York, he needs to improve his ball-handling, make quicker decisions, he needs to stay healthy (he’s missed four games in each season), and needs to start being a quarterback on the attack instead of acting as a game-manager.
The jury is still out on Jones but the team seems very committed to him. John Mara, Joe Judge, and Dave Gettleman all remain high on the #6 pick from 2019 but year three is really the final straw to figure out what you have in your first-round quarterback.
It’s now or never for Daniel Jones. He must keep progressing next season and show he can be a reliable, stable figure in the Giants’ offense who can win them games on his arm talent instead of helping them not lose games.
Year 2 Grade: C-
2021 Role and Beyond:
Jones will be under center again in 2021 barring an unexpected major development.
The Giants have the #11 pick in the draft and will likely miss out on at least the top two quarterbacks in this draft. Don’t be surprised when that number is actually three or four QBs in the top 10 with an exciting and promising QB class.
With that being said, the Giants offense will probably look much different again next year. Barkley should be back, the receivers need to be upgraded, and hopefully, the team keeps building the foundation of their offensive line.
Jones will need to live up to his potential and play the part of a trustworthy quarterback that the team can feel good about week in and week out.
Round 1, #17 Overall: DT Dexter Lawrence, Clemson
Dexter Lawrence has become a staple in the Giants’ beefy defensive line.
The #17 overall pick was a part of a dominant line in college alongside Clelin Farrell and Christain Wilkins. In the NFL, he got to team up with Leo Williams and Dalvin Tomlinson and Lawrence hasn’t disappointed.
Lawrence’s reputation is better known as a run-stuffer due to his massive size at 6-4, 342 pounds. However, his pass rush arsenal is taken for granted and is an underrated aspect of his game. Big Dexy quietly picked up 4 sacks in his second season, increasing his total of 2.5 from last year.
Lawrence has played in all 32 games possible in his career and started 31. He is a durable figure who’s an immovable man in the middle of the Giants 3-4 defense.
Lawrence seemed to improve in year two as he grew more comfortable with a better scheme and more understanding of the pro game in year two.
Dexter’s numbers went up as well. He upped his total tackles on the season from 38 to 53, he had two pass deflections compared to one in 2019, he doubled his tackles for a loss from three to six total, and he had 10 QB hits in 2020, improving from 9 in 2019.
Lawrence appears to be a big part of the future for 2021 and for years to come. He’s an exciting and joyful player to watch who always seems to be having fun whenever he’s on a football field. He will be returning next season as one of the team’s most important defenders.
Year 2 Grade: B+
2021 Role and Beyond:
Lawrence will continue to see time mainly as the man in the middle of the Giants front three on the defensive line.
Expect Lawrence to continue getting better and better. He has a great motor, an infectious laugh, and a bubbly personality that is easy to see in interviews and on the field.
#97 is under contract for at least two more seasons and three if they want to pick up his 5th-year option. Expect Lawrence to fulfill his role and continue being a high-end defensive lineman with the potential to break out and become a household name in 2021.
Round 1, #30 Overall: CB DeAndre Baker, Georgia
DeAndre Baker is one of the biggest disappointments in Giants’ draft history.
There’s no other way around it. The team completely bungled an ongoing legal situation with Baker and they dropped the ball even when they didn’t need to.
Baker dealt with some horrible allegations over the summer amidst witnesses claiming he robbed them at gunpoint after losing tens of thousands of dollars in high-stakes gambling games. His arrest became a national news story and the entire world watched how the Giants would handle this amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and along with employing ex-convicts and guys such as Josh Brown (the kicker).
Baker was a talented corner out of Georgia in 2019 but he struggled with preparation, professionalism, and a complete understanding of what it takes to survive and succeed in the NFL. After rumors of falling asleep in film sessions, Baker not knowing the playbook, and having an alleged poor attitude, he entered 2020 on the hot seat.
Baker never even made it to training camp, as the team quickly cut ties with Baker and avoided all the negative press and attention that instead would have hanged over the team.
Fast forward to November 16th and Baker’s charges were fully dropped and the investigation was declared over. Instead of playing out the legal process and letting Baker remain on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, the team cut him on September 8th right before Week 1. The team expected him to be charged and likely spend years behind in bars but that never turned out to be the case.
After being exonerated, Baker latched on with the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad. From there, he worked his way onto the active roster before suffering a brutal broken femur injury.
Year 2 Grade: F
Round 3, #95 Overall: EDGE/LB Oshane Ximines, Old Dominion
Oshane Ximines did not live up to the hopes of many about him becoming a trustworthy pass rusher or breaking the cursed streak of failed NY Giants’ 3rd round picks.
Ximines racked up 4.5 sacks as a rookie in 16 games with only two starts. He was able to find some success despite playing in a part-time, limited role.
This year, Ximines was trusted with a starting spot and was counted on to provide some life off the edge for the Giants’ struggling pass rush.
Ximines only played four games in 2020 with three starts before suffering a shoulder injury in Week 4 that sent him on the IR. From there, the shoulder never recovered enough to return and the nagging injury got bad enough where it would require season-ending surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
In four games this year, Ximines did not provide much in the box score with only five tackles, three QB hits, and 0 sacks in four games. In his limited snaps, he looked like he was heading towards a possibly potent season and looked to build on a promising rookie season.
Year 2 Grade: Incomplete
2021 Role and Beyond:
The NY Giants would be wise to keep adding bodies and further build up their edge linebackers group. Neither Ximines nor Lorenzo Carter should be counted on as full-time starters after both players had season-ending injuries and haven’t lived up to their expected contributions as former third-round picks.
Both players are intriguing guys but seem to be talked about far more than seeing them actually making plays on the field.
Ximines will need to fight for a starting job again in 2021. At best, the team can hope he puts it all together as a starter in year three, and at worst he can still be a solid backup in a pass-rushing role.
A positive thing about Ximines is his versatility to be deployed all over the front seven at edge, linebacker, or on the inside on the defensive line. Ximines is a good player who faces a critical boom-or-bust season in this upcoming third NFL season.
Round 4, #108 Overall: DB Julian Love, Notre Dame
Julian Love is a fighter in the Giants secondary.
Love has been lauded for his football smarts and versatility ever since the team took him in the 4th round two years back. Love has had to learn multiple positions from outside cornerback, slot cornerback, and both safety spots as a swiss army knife in the NY Giants’ defense.
Love’s snap count jumped mightily from 409 defensive snaps in 2019 to 720 snaps in 2020. He saw time all over the field from playing deep safety, lining up in the box as a pseudo linebacker, to also manning receivers up in coverage as a cornerback.
His only bad play in a big moment came off a dropped game-winning interception on the last drive in the team’s biggest win of the season in Seattle. Luckily, the defense got the stop they needed to close out and win the game, and Love helped bat down the game-ending pass that was incomplete from Russell Wilson.
There aren’t many guys on the Giants that have the ability to be so versatile. He is a valued, important player for the defense and what they want to accomplish in terms of disguising coverages and giving quarterbacks exotic looks in zone coverage.
Love’s numbers from 2020 included 64 tackles, one interception, three pass deflections, and one QB hit. His ability to impact games from several angles is a huge part of what makes his game so useful.
Year 2 Grade: B
2021 Role and Beyond:
Love will continue to have an extensive role in Graham’s defense in 2021.
With that being said, Love is more an immense contributing backup than a starter at any position. He will see several snaps every game despite possibly not starting many. He is vital in the team’s nickel and dime packages and he helps provide a calming presence to the back of the New York defense.
He will provide additional support to the safety trio of Peppers-Ryan-McKinney while also helping out Bradberry and whoever lines up at corner this season.
Round 5, #143 Overall: LB Ryan Connelly, Wisconsin
Few transactions created more drama for the 2020 NY Giants than cutting Ryan Connelly from the team’s final 53-man roster, but in the end the criticism was much ado about nothing.
Fans were enraged that the Giants would “give up” on the promising second-year linebacker from Wisconsin. His ability to move, stop the run, and make plays in coverage was seen as a huge boon for this team and something that has been sorely missed for the better part of the entire 2010s decade.
The new coaching staff was clearly not impressed with Connelly’s game nor was his 2019 game film enough to survive the different regime. Connelly also got injured late in training camp, which didn’t help his cause.
Simply put, his roster status should have been much more in question than many realized after the team drafted four linebackers in the 2020 draft.
That fact alone should have rung sirens in the eyes of Giants fans who expected Connelly to make the team as a near-lock.
Connelly put up 20 tackles, one sack, two tackles for a loss, two pass deflections, and two interceptions. I personally thought it would be enough to crack the final roster but that was not the case.
If it cheers any salty fans up, Connelly latched on with the Vikings after being cut. From there he was pretty much exclusively a special teams player. He saw a grand total of ONE snap on defense all year and that came in Week 1. Clearly, Connelly has a long way to go before anyone should be calling him a stud linebacker, let alone even see the field on any NFL defense.
Round 5, #171 Overall: WR Darius Slayton, Auburn
Darius Slayton was unable to improve and build off a promising rookie season.
After racking up 740 yards and 8 touchdowns in year one, most of his receiving numbers fell in disappointing style. He put up those surprising numbers as a 5th round rookie who was a bit of an afterthought in the Giants offense heading into the season.
Instead, Slayton’s combination of size, speed, and ball skills quickly got him on the field and he developed a strong rapport with Daniel Jones. It was expected that both players would improve from their rookie seasons and further developing a pairing as a serious connection for the Giants offense in 2020 to rely on and consistently move the sticks.
Nagging injuries played a big role in Slayton’s regression.
He played through numerous lower-body injuries such as ankle and leg injuries that caused him to limp off the field numerous times and miss consecutive plays and drives in several games. This inconsistent aspect of his game made his contributions always uncertain and took away a huge speed element to the offense.
After hauling eight touchdowns in 2019, Slayton’s total fell to three in 2020. To make that number worse, he had two touchdowns in Week 1 (while clearly more healthy), and then only caught one more touchdown the next 15 weeks in the Giants’ first win of the year in Week 6 vs the WFT.
His season totals include 50 catches for 751 yards, three touchdowns, 40 first downs, with a catch percentage of 52.1%. Slayton also hauled in one of the biggest passes of the season, a 40-yard reception to help the Giants secure a two-score lead late in the 4th quarter to beat the Eagles and snap their 7-game losing streak vs the Birds.
Year 2 Grade: C+
2021 Role and Beyond:
Darius Slayton will enter 2021 as an integral part of the Giants offense what they want and need to accomplish. The team needs more speed offensively and Slayton is their only true speed or deep threat on the roster currently.
At this point, Slayton was still a raw 5th round pick for a reason. He needs to stay healthy, stay more consistent, and do a better job of creating more separation along with hauling in tough passes in contested situations.
He projects to be a WR2 long-term and not somebody who should be the face of an NFL receiver room. He needs help in the receiver unit and will be counted on as a likely starter and big target for Daniel Jones in their respective year three together. The strong Jones-Slayton pairing we saw in 2019 will be one of the key things needed for the NY Giants to make the playoffs in 2021.
Round 6, #180 Overall: CB Corey Ballentine, Washburn University
Corey Ballentine is a talented player who was always very easy to root for with the NY Giants.
A classic underdog, Ballentine’s reputation on draft night was a 6th round pick, a former FCS player from small school Washburn University, to then becoming the nightmare situation of being the NFL player shot on draft night.
The biggest and best day of Corey’s life instead ended in fear, horror, and the death of his teammate and best friend, Dwane Simmons.
Ballentine never found his footing in the NFL and he quickly learned the cruel side of how the NFL business operates. After one full season and nine games in year two, Ballentine found himself subsequently cut and unemployed.
Ballentine struggled mightily in the secondary at corner and was getting picked on constantly by opposing quarterbacks. He was simply overwhelmed and overmatched on an NFL field while still adjusting to the speed and physicality of the game, especially compared to D2 NCAA football.
The Giants tried lighting a spark on special teams and had Ballentine start the year as the team’s primary kick returner. He found marginal success averaging only 24 yards per kick return. After a bad start to the season, Judge cut Ballentine and he landed up staying home in New York with the Jets.
Year 2 Grade: D
Round 7, #232 Overall: OT George Asafo-Adjei, Kentucky
“Big George” was a hopeful pick for NY. The team took a chance on his size and athleticism and hoped it would amount to something special.
That dream never played out.
Asafo Adjei was placed on season-ending IR in training camp with a nasty concussion injury. He missed his entire rookie season and essentially took an unofficial medical redshirt season.
Once Shurmur and his staff were fired, George’s days with the team would not last long. He didn’t even get a chance to create a real impression on the field with the new coaching staff and was waived in March following a failed physical.
Year 2 Grade: F
Round 7, #245 Overall: DT Chris Slayton, Syracuse
Chris Slayton could not overcome a crowded, talented Giants defensive line.
Playing behind some big-name players such as the traded-for Leonard Williams, the rookie 1st rounder in Lawrence, and the homegrown 2nd round pick in Dalvin Tomlinson. The presence of the 2018 draftees B.J. Hill and R.J. McIntosh made life that much more difficult for the Syracuse 7th rounder.
Slayton was cut in training camp and was signed immediately to the NY Giants practice squad the next day. From there, he spent his entire rookie season on the taxi squad before earning one call up to the 53-man roster in the last week of the season. He didn’t dress up for the game and found himself waived after training camp in 2020. He latched on with the Falcons where he now has a futures contract with the team.
Year 2 Grade: Incomplete
NY Giants 2019 Draft Class
The Giants’ 2019 Draft Class needs to show some serious improvements in 2021.
Most, if not all of the picks outside of Dex Lawrence either regressed or disappointed in year two. Starting with Jones, his numbers went down immensely and 11 touchdowns is an unacceptable number for any starting quarterback in today’s pass-crazed, offensive-driven NFL.
Baker was cut after one season and the team wasted three draft picks to move up and select him. Ximines missed about 75% of the season due to his shoulder injury, Julian Love didn’t truly take a step “forward”, and Darius Slayton dealt with nagging injuries and a lifeless offense.
Connelly was the only disappointing player to be cut but guys such as Tae Crowder, Cam Brown, and Carter Coughlin quickly made many forget about Connelly. All three aforementioned linebackers were Day 3 picks and all contributed greatly to the team in 2020.
Compare that to the 2019 Day 3 draft class of Connelly, Slayton, Ballentine, Asafo-Adjei, and Slayton. Only one player remains from those five picks and Slayton hopes to prove himself to be a true gem in a deciding year three.
When looking across the board, there is no way of saying the 2019 draft class provided much clarity or optimism for the team’s future.
2019 will go down as one of the team’s most important drafts ever, certainly since 2000 as they look to replace Eli Manning, their two-time Super Bowl Champion and MVP. Dave Gettleman put his good name and career reputation on the line by selecting Jones. His legacy as the Giants GM will forever be tied with Jones and his success and impact on the organization.
Jones hasn’t shown enough to fully feel confident about him as a long term answer behind center. The team passed up several big-name prospects, some of whom were likely rated similarly or higher on the Giants’ draft board. He needs to start looking the part of a top ten pick.
Going back to the beginning, having five players left from the 10-man draft class in less than two full years is a dreadful total. Guys such as Baker, Connelly, Ballentine, and Big George were completely wasted picks. These four players along with Chris Slayton have absolutely nothing to show for their NY Giants tenure.
NY Giants 2019 Rookie Class Year 2 Total Grade: D+
Analysis:
It’s hard to grade this draft class as higher than a D+ for many reasons. First off, trading three assets for a 1st round pick only to be cut after one season is a colossal disaster. Baker’s performance both on and off the field was clearly subpar compared to his competition.
Jones has been a mixed bag through two seasons. Overall, he hasn’t shown enough magic or inspiring performances to truly feel confident that he can be the team’s guy for the next 5-10 years.
Dexter Lawrence is a good, useful player but one can argue the team would be better off taking an edge rusher such as Montez Sweat who makes far more impact in the pass rushing department.
Oshane Ximines has shown little through two seasons to provide a concrete answer on his future. He needs to at least stay healthy and provide some impact plays to avoid being a part of the team’s lengthy history of failed 3rd round picks.
Julian Love is an intriguing, useful player and the team seems to have found a good player in round 4. Connelly was a promising rookie but with his injury and other factors, his career never materialized in New York.
Darius Slayton was the only true steal of the team’s picks. Even he struggled and regressed mightily in 2020.
Put all together, there are far too many question marks and concerns rather than answers and solutions. The magical draft ball is never magically clear but the picture being painted is starting to show another underwhelming NY Giants draft class. Unless guys like Love, Slayton, Jones, and Lawrence really pick it up this year, this draft class is heading towards another disappointment for the New York franchise.